


A Cold and Broken Hallelujah

by wrote_and_writ



Category: Raven Cycle - Maggie Stiefvater
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-26
Updated: 2018-12-26
Packaged: 2019-09-27 15:10:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 609
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17164280
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wrote_and_writ/pseuds/wrote_and_writ
Summary: Friendship Bros





	A Cold and Broken Hallelujah

**Author's Note:**

> I went to church on Christmas Eve for the first time since my Grandma's funeral. It was kind of a disaster, but it got me thinking about Ronan. I don't have faith in church anymore, but I have faith in my friends.  
> (Also, I got drunk at Christmas dinner, halfway through writing this, so it's not as great as I hoped, but yeah.)

Midnight mass ended hours ago, but the heavy weight of incense in the air held Ronan in place, an anchor between his body and his soul. He sat in the corner of the last pew, a dark corner he shared with a small wooden statue of Saint Agnes, patron of the church. Saint Agnes, a martyr for her virginity, patron saint of young girls. Well, Ronan didn’t mind. She never bothered him, and he didn’t bother her.

Ronan Lynch didn’t believe in God. He knew that God existed, that there were more things in heaven and earth, blah blah blah. Belief wasn’t Ronan’s strong suit. It didn’t have to be when you had proof of things beyond your own existence. Belief and faith were things he desperately wanted. 

He thought about the dusky, golden boy, asleep not a hundred yards away. He knew that boy loved him. He knew that his love for the boy was holy and profane and unlimited and eternal. He knew it as he knew the ground beneath his feet waited for him, waited to open and consume him when he had finished out his time here. 

But it was Christmas, and Ronan wished he had a little more faith. He had listened half-heartedly to Father Oscar’s homily on love and joy. He had known more love and joy in the last year than he had known in his entire life. But he needed faith because he wanted to believe that it would last. 

Ronan wrapped himself in his leather jacket and headed out into the night. He drove for an hour, building his courage, then stopped in front of a house that had become a home. The windows were dark, all but the window on the second floor, just behind the lone pine tree in the yard. Ronan stood underneath and scooped up a couple pine cones. 

_Plunk. Plunk >_

The window opened a crack. “The hell you doing, Ronan?”

“Let me in, Maggot.”

Blue muttered, but she left her window and opened the front door a moment later. “Come in,” she hissed.

Ronan caught her in a brotherly hug. “Thanks.”

They stopped in the kitchen, and Blue brewed some mugs of tea. “Come on,” she said, leading him up to her room.

They settled onto her bed, and Blue piled blankets over them. “So?”

“So what?” Ronan sipped his tea.

“Why are you here? Merry Christmas, by the way. But why are you here? Adam kick you out?”

“I didn’t go up to see him. I went to mass.

“Yeah, but after mass, I figured you’d go see him.”

Ronan leaned into Blue’s shoulder. She rested her head against his. 

“Really, though,” she said after a minute’s silence. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing, Maggot.”

“Ronan.”

“I just. Can I just be here?”

Blue laced her fingers through Ronan’s. “Always.” 

They sipped their tea in silence. Blue had plugged in a string of twinkly lights and put on some soft music. She was drifting into sleep when Ronan wrapped her in an embrace. 

“Thanks, Blue.”

Blue squeezed his hand again. “You sure you’re alright?”

“Yeah. I am.” He pulled her into a tight hug. “I just needed to see something.”

“Okay, loser.” She kissed his cheek. “But we should really get some sleep or Santa won’t stop here.”

“Hell, Blue, I’ve been very naughty this year.”

“Well, I haven’t. I’ve been a perfect angel, and I’m hoping for a pony.”

“Alright, Maggot. I’ll see what I can do.” They settled into Blue’s narrow bed. In the morning, Blue woke alone, but on her pillow, a tiny glass pony with a gold bow wished her Merry Christmas.


End file.
